Tuesday, September 8, 2015

First Read: Reboot Time for the 2016 Establishment Candidates

First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter.

It's reboot time for the establishment 2016 frontrunners

Our new NBC/Marist polls of Iowa and New Hampshire underscore how BAD the summer was for the establishment frontrunners in the presidential race. In Iowa, Hillary Clinton's lead is down to 11 points from 29 (!!!) in April, and she's now trailing Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire. Both Jeb Bush and Scott Walker have gone from double-digit support in the two states to single digits now. And Marco Rubio is at 4% in Iowa and just 3% in New Hampshire. So while today's New York Times story is about the reboot for Hillary Clinton's campaign, all of the other onetime frontrunners need reboots, too.

  • Hillary Clinton: As she looks to change the storyline from her emails and declining poll numbers, Clinton is emphasizing women's issues and her foreign-policy record (see her Iran speech this week);
  • Jeb Bush: Per NBC's Jordan Frasier, he's going up with TV ads in New Hampshire, and the Super PAC Right to Rise is going up as well. And he's unveiling his tax plan on Wednesday;
  • Scott Walker: "Feeling the urgency of an ever more difficult campaign, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is heading to Eureka College — alma mater of his idol Ronald Reagan — on Thursday to launch a blistering attack on Washington politics and lay out how he would set in motion his potential presidency," the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes;
  • Marco Rubio: It's time to start translating his high ceiling into actual support.

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